Professor Kwesi Yankah
THE MINISTER of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, says the motivation behind the Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019 is to eliminate functional redundancies in the various bodies on education.
According to him, the bill has no intention of rendering people redundant as being claimed, insisting that it is coming to harmonize the consolidated bodies for greater efficiency in the running of tertiary and other levels of education in the country.
Contributing to a debate on the bill on the Floor of Parliament on Wednesday, Prof. Yankah said, “Various aspects of education have come under criticism. It is best understood alongside existence of a number of documents for tertiary institutions, including the various reforms in the tertiary education sector.”
He reiterated that the document (bill) had gone through various stages of review and said all those stages had taken care of concerns raised including what he called ‘small differences’ and ‘lapses’.
The minister pointed out that the bill is silent on the process of obtaining certification, accreditation and charter because that aspect would rest with the regulatory body, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).
Bill Focus
The Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019 is seeking to establish bodies to regulate the educational sector in the country ‘effectively’ and ‘efficiently’.
At the moment, the various institutions that carry out regulatory functions within the educational sector exist as individual agencies under the Ministry of Education.
The regulatory agencies include the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), the National Accreditation Board (NAB), the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), the National Teaching Council (NTC) and the National Inspectorate Board (NIB).
Bill Highlights
The bill has 127 clauses and divided into six parts. Part one (Clauses 1 to 40) restructures and merges the National Council for Tertiary Education and the National Accreditation Board into one institution to be known as the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission.
Part Two (Clauses 41 to 57) transforms the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, the National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations and the National Vocational Training Institute into a single entity to be designated as the National Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training.
Part Three (Clauses 58 to 86) of the bill provides for the establishment of the National Teaching Council.
Parts Four and Five (Clauses 87 to 112) establish the National Inspectorate Authority and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment respectively.
Part Six (Clauses 113 to 127) deals with administrative, financial and miscellaneous provisions relating to the five regulatory entities.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House